Ribbon loom



March l2, 1940. w. 'HARRIS 2,193,453

RIBBON LOOM Filed June 26, 1939 l f f5 19 l? 19 2o INVENTOR, V 157:11. 4 w Willian, /a'rwlr,

gwumm ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES ATENT' OFFlCE Application June 26,

3 Claims.

In a well-known type of loom, as a ribbon loom,

a rack reciprocatory lengthwise of and in the back-and-forth-movable batten drives the shuttles, as through pinions. A system to transmit s reciprocation to the rack includes iiexible connections, as straps, and a rotary guiding means housed within with its axis substantially horizontal and crossing the batten and up to which said connections extend and around which in opposite directions they then extend and exist attached to the rack. Suitable means, removed from the batteri, as a suitably and constantly rotated double-crank to which the connections are respectively `connected at opposite sides of its axis 'of rotation, imparts pulls to said connections independently of each other and in alternation, that is to say, so that a pull is exerted on one connection o-r the other each time the batten structure is back and the warp sheds open to receive the shuttles.

The construction is such that, since said connections reach up into .the space in the hatten in which said guiding means is located and since said space is necessarily of limited width and taking into account the back and forth movements of the batteri relatively to a guide for said connections having fixed location, as on the floor near the lay-swords for supporting the batten, the connections in their own back and forth travel wipe against the batteri and so become chafed `and sooner or later cease to be any longer serviceable and have to bev replaced by new ones.

The object of this invention is so to improve the construction of a loom of this type as to eliminate all contact of the lengthwise traveling connections withany relatively fixed part `of thebatten structure and the consequent wear thereof.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of so much of the improved loom as vis necessary to illustrate the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of that end of the batten structure to which the invention is applied Showing certain parts present in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 3 shows the batten structure and other parts in section in the vertical plane of the axis of cylinder I8, which and associated parts appear in elevation;

Fig. 4 shows the cylinder in transverse section and, in elevation, the rack and the connections between it and the cylinder; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a fragment of said 1939, Serial No. 281,112

cylinder and the connections 23 on a larger scale.

The batten structure includes, as usual, the usual beam I constituting thebatten, supported by lay-swords la so ,as to be movable forward or to the right and back, and a top rail 2 parallel with the batteri and which is supported by end walls, such ras 3, and by the usual spaced blocks,

not shown, in the grooves of which the shuttles are guided and move.

In grooves A in the batten and rail is reciprocatory the rack which here comprises racks proper 5 in the respective grooves and lapped plates 6 secured to the respective racks proper and held together by a clamp l and screws la.

According to my invention an oscillating cylinder is to be journaled in the batteri structure so as to cross the rack and project rearwardly from said structure. Said cylinder is to be operatively connected with the rack to form therewith a back-and-forth-movable train and it is to be oscillated by ilexible connections extending to its projecting portion in an up and down direction and also extending in opposite directions around and attached thereto, wherefore, taking into account the back and forward movements of the batten structure, said projecting portion of the cylinder is plain or throughout of one diameter so that the connections in winding on the cylinder can do so spirally without' chang each other or any part of the cylinder. In the present example the portion of the cylinder which crosses the rack is below the same and actually housed within the hatten.

As here shown the batten is formed with a recess 8 which is open at least rearwardly and is here closed at the front by a wall 9 forming an integral part of the batten. Secured to the front face ofthe hatten by screws Ill is a plate H arranged opposite recess 8. This plate and wall 9 have superposed holes l2-l3. In the lower hole is fitted and fixed by a pin lll the forward end of a bar l5 which at its rear end has an upstanding fixed head IB, and projecting forwardly from the head above the bar and fast to the head is a shaft I1 whose forward end fits the hole l2. Otherwise stated, parts IE--I-ll form a forked member which, with plate i l, forms one part of a two-part bearing support for the mentioned cylinder.

The cylinder is indicated I8, being journaled on shaft I1 and reaching from wall 9 of the batten to head I6; it is thus partially housed in recess 8 and also projects rearwardly of the iii) hatten. Its projecting portion is plain for its whole length.

Any expedient for imparting reciprocation to the rack from the cylinder, when oscillated. may be provided. In this example there are two flexible elongated connectors I9 extending in opposite directions from the cylinder to the rack and secured to the latter as at 2G; here to avoid chang each other they exist as distinct or separate elements or straps arranged in two vertical planes and secured to the cylinder at 2|.

For oscillating the cylinder let 22 be a doublecrank assumed to be constantly rotated in one direction from some going part of the loom, as well known in this art: see, for instance, the patent to Sands No. 1,138,418.` To diametrically opposite points of this double-crank are pivotally connected the ends of flexible straps Z3 which, as also known, extend under suitable guiding means 2, as pulleys mounted in a suitable bracket 25 supported on the oor near the layswords. The other ends of these straps extend up on opposite sides of the mentioned bearing support and of the cylinder and, extending around the latter in opposite directions, are secured thereto, as at 2B. In this example they are attached to the cylinder when the batteri is in its extreme forward position. Each of these connections is related to the cylinder in a peculiar way, to wit:

When the batten moves back and the warp sheds are opened the rack must be driven one way or the other to pass the shuttles through the sheds. Whichever strapl 23 is active at this time to drive the rack winds of course around the cylinder, and it should so wind that it will not wrap around itself, thus not only causing chaiing and wear thereof but irregular motion of the rack. Hence, according to this invention and the said example each strap is wound around the cylinder so that its end is constantly at the rear of the spiral thereof more or less formed, that is to say, even when the batten is fully forward, or substantially as in Fig. 1. Otherwise stated, the guide 24 being so positioned that a vertical plane tangent to its forward or delivery side cuts the cylinder when in its forward position, when the cylinder is in that position each strap exists wound more or less therearound so that its end is rearward of the helicalv formed. Therefore each time, on a backward movement of the cylinder, the latter causes a winding of either strap thereon such winding proceeds forwardly and thus so as to wind the strap directly on the cylinder or without wrapping of the strap around itself. 'The straps being initially associated with the cylinder so that one is forward of the other, as one winds the other unwinds and so whatever spacing exists initially between the portions thereof dep-ending from the cylinder are maintained constant. And they are initially so arranged (to wit, in what I herein term their spacing) that on a complete revolution of the cylinder in either direction one will not climb or wrapthe other. The portion of the cylinder around Which the straps wrap is plain or without flanges or the like which they might climb or rub against.

According to my invention, therefore, there is not only no rubbing of the straps against fixed parts of the batten structure but no winding of the straps on themselves with consequent undue wear thereof and irregular action of the rack.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a loom of the class described, the combination, with a back-and-forth-movable battenincluding structure and a rack reciprocatory lengthwise of and in said structure, of an oscillatory element journaled in said structure on a substantially horizontal axis crossing the rack and being operatively connected with the rack to move the same' back and forth in synchrony with respective back and forth rotations of said element and having a plain substantially cylindrical concentric portion thereof projecting generally horizontally in one direction crosswise of the betten structure, exible connections to be alternately pulled and extending in opposite directions around and attached to said portion of element, and guiding means for the connections arranged to direct the same to said element in proximity to a vertical plane cutting the axis of the latter when the hatten structure is forward, cach connection existing helically wound around said element and in the herein-defined spacing from the other element.

2. In a loom of the class described, the combination of a reciprocatory hatten-including structure and they shuttle-driving rack movable therein lengthwise thereof, the batteri having a recess open at the rear side thereof, a rotary element journaled in said structure on an axis crossing the rack generally horizontally, said element having a portion within said recess and operatively connected with the rack to move the same back and forth in synchrony with respective back and forth rotations of said element and a portion protruding from said recess, and means to rotate said element back and forth including flexible connections wound in oppositeI directions around the protruding portion of said element.

3. In a loom of the class described, the combination of a reciprocatory batten having a recess open at one side thereof, a shuttle-driving rack reciprocatory in and lengthwise of the hatten, a bearing structure fast to the batten and having a bearing portion whose axis crosses the rack generally horizontally, a rotary element journaled on the bearing portion and projecting in one direction from the batten and operatively connected with the rack to move the same back and forth in synchrony with respective back and forth rotations of said element, and means to rotate said element back and forth including exible connections wound in opposite directions around the projecting portion of said element.

WILLIAM HARRIS. 

